Pile fabric



Aug. 11, 1942. w, 2,293,010

PILE FABRIC Filed Feb. 24, 1941 III, "I. "V

IN VENTOR.

Wa/ir/l. Rice. & WtOPHQy Patented Aug. 11, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE PILE FABRIC Walter A. Rice, Newburgh, N. Y., assignor to Firth Carpet Company, Inc., New York, N. Y.

Application February 24, 1941, Serial No. 380,109

4 Claims. (01. 139-391) There is an increasing demand in the decorative field for fabrics having novel effects attained by figure areas which are at different levels, as for instance, in brocades, such as are used for draperies and upholstering, and especially in carpet fabrics where numerous attempts have been made to simulate the particular appeal which is characteristic of hand-carved pile figured floor coverings.

In producing pile fabrics of the above classes the effect of different levels in the surface pattern has been achieved, in machine made fabrics, by a number of different artifices, some have practised leaving out face yarn to outline figures, others have used cutting and non-cutting wires while still others have incorporated yarns of varying degrees of twist, which when subsequently treated in a suitable manner as, for instance, by steaming, produces patterns at different levels.

My invention, however, is a woven pile fabric which attains the effect of different levels of pattern figures in a manner wholly different, I believe, than any of those heretofore practised in the 'art of making drapery, upholstery or carpet fabrics, and it may be practised on any loom capable of producing a figured pile fabric; the result is a product which more closely simulates the original hand carved effect than any material made by previous methods; this close simulation removes, or at least reduces to a minimum, the objection which heretofor has been a real limitation upon the wide distribution of materials with pattern areas of different levels.

With my invention there is added to the decorative field a fabric which contributes a characteristically different approach to patterns than may be achieved simply by the usual figure and color arrangements even though combined with a difference in levels of figure areas.

My invention comprehends the use of chenille fur wefts in a figured pile'fabric in such manner that there is contrast between pile surface and chenille surface, and the surfaces may be at different levels, the absence of pile tufting in selected areas serving to expose the chenille areas.

Another feature is the use of chenille fur wefts for face and back shots whereby the product is a double faced fabric.

A further phase of the invention resides in combining pile face material and chenille fur wefts in a woven figured fabric to form pattern or figure areas of different height irrespective of the cross sectional shape of the chenille fur strip or type of chenille fur used, that is to say, the cross section of the strip may be the common v-shape, round or spiral.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification I have illustrated my invention as adapted to carpet fabrics though it is apparent from the drawing, and the description thereof that the invention may be practised by any one skilled in the art of weaving figured pile fabrics for draperies, upholstery cloth or the like without departing from the intended scope of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a warpwise sectional elevation of a figured fabric according to the present invention with face and back shots of V-shape chenille fur.

Figure 2 is a view similar-to Figure 1, but in which the chenille fur weft shots are in the face only of the fabric, with plain weft in the back, representing such a fabric as may be woven on a double shuttle loom.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figures 1 and 2 in which, however, the invention is shown as embodied in a three shot Axminster type of carpet fabric.

Figure 4 is a cross section of three common types of chenille fur which may be used for the weft.

Figure 51s a view showing a braid weft which is usable in the fabric.

The car-pet fabric represented in Figure 1 is woven with cut pile tufted areas! and with areas 2 in which the pile surface yarn is not raised but wherein there is exposed the chenille fur wefts 3 which give surface to the unraised pile areas and provide contrast. Of course in this Figure 1, as well as in the figures subsequently to be described, the weave is opened out and magnified for the sake of giving clarity to the method, whereas in the actual fabric, the fineness would bring the elements into close arrangement.

The fabric, as shown, indicates the pile face yarns 4 and 5 which may be of the same or different colors, or of different types, and raised in I a repeat pattern which provides the raised pile and, in areas such as 2 where the repeat figure of the pile yarn calls for a space or unraised area the fur of the chenille conceals the carpet foundation and provides a surface which is in contrast to that of the raised pile warp. While fur may be used which will give comparable height to that of the raised pile I prefer the effect attained by the use of shorter fur. The fur weft is shown as set upright in both the face and back shots, however, a more desirable hand finished simulation is achieved by allowing the fur to assume a miscellany of positions so that the chenille fur surfaces are non-uniform.

In making carpet fabrics of this type I have found that A" chenille fur used on the shuttles provides a very desirable resultant product with an attractive and unusual effect upon both the figured and plain face of this carpet fabric and also rendering it reversible in use.

I have shown in Figure 2 such a fabric as may be produced, by my invention, on a loom of the double shuttle type. In this type of fabric the raised pile warp is indicated at H as raised into repeat figure areas I! to form a face pattern of cut pile with spaces l3 of unraised pile warp in which the chenille fur weft I4 is exposed; however, in this construction of fabric, the back wefts l5 are plain; the chain warps are indicated at It and I1 and the usual stuffers l8, l9 and 20 of any suitable number may be incorporated.

Another of the numerous type of fabrics characteristic of my invention is shown in Figure 3 wherein I have illustrated a three shot Axminster weave incorporating the chenille fur wefts in the surface only. In this embodiment of the invention the backing fabric comprises the weft threads 2| at the back of the fabric, the intermediate Weft threads 22 in the middle portion of the fabric, and the top or surface wefts 23 which are chenille fur wefts giving face to the fabric where the pile forming yarns 24 are omitted, the usual stuflers 25 and 26 may be incorporated.

I have illustrated in Figure 4 three common types of chenille fur strips which may be used as wefts in carrying my invention into practice and in which 21 is the round type, 28 the V-type and 29 the spiral type, all of which are well enough known in the art to require no description.

The method of my invention comprises opening sheds between pile and other warps, raising the pile in a spaced repeat pattern, and inserting a chenille fur weft to give face and contrast between raised and unraised pile areas.

Desirable effects, within the scope of my invention, are secured by substituting wefts of braid 3 such as shown in Figure 5, or napped or novelty yarns and the like for the chenille, the term novelty yarns being used here to describe that class of yarns outside of the regular yarns.

I claim:

1. A woven fabric having a backing and having throughout a pile surface formed of fur pile wefts substantially covering said backing, and warp pile having raised and unraised portions defining a repeat pattern, the unraised pile areas exposing the pile of the wefts.

2. A woven fabric having a backing and having throughout a pile surface formed of fur pile wefts substantially covering said backing, and warp pile having raised and unraised portions defining a repeat pattern, the unraised pile areas exposing the pile of the wefts and the raised warp pile completely hiding the pile of the wefts in the raised areas.

3. A woven fabric having a backing and having throughout a pile surface formed of fur pile wefts substantially covering said backing, and warp pile having raised and unraised portions defining a repeat pattern, the unraised pile areas exposing the pile of the wefts and the raised warp pile being of greater height than the pile of the wefts.

4. A woven fabric having a backing and having throughout a pile surface formed of fur pile wefts substantially covering said backing, and warp pile having raised and unraised portions defining a repeat pattern, the unraised pile areas exposing the pile of the wefts and the raised warp being of greater height than and completely hiding the pile of the wefts in the raised areas.

WALTER A. RICE. 

